Debuting on November 10th and running weekly until early December, the first episode sees actor Carey Mulligan and director Emerald Fennell give an intimate glimpse into their close relationship as they discuss working together on the film Promising Young Woman and how their friendship has evolved since they first met as teenagers.
Close friends and creative collaborators Carey Mulligan and Emerald Fennell bring their talents to the new film, Promising Young Woman.
Fennell’s feature debut in the writer/director’s chair is, says Net-a-Porter, a pitch-dark revenge thriller about consent and contemporary rape culture, laced with a seemingly sugary rom-com and a slightly quesy-making candy-hued aesthetic.
The film boasts a “mesmerizing” lead performance from Mulligan as rage-filled Cassie: “I don’t think I felt at risk in terms of telling this story at all. You know, women have been talking about this stuff for millennia. There’s nothing new here,” says Mulligan.
Further episodes will feature Yara and Keri Shahidi, Sandra Choi and Mimi Xu and (plus more to be announced) in conversation about their relationships and the importance of keeping connected at this time. At the heart of these conversations are the powerful relationships these women have with each other and their loved ones, the unbreakable bonds, even from afar, and what it means to be together, says Net-a-Porter.
Highlights from the podcast
Emerald on their first meeting: “We had both been in an episode of (Lynda La Plante TV series) Trial and Retribution as teenagers, I think. Certainly, it was my first job. And I was playing – big shocker – a nightmarish posh girl. I have to say it was a real stretch!”
On rekindling their friendship
Carey: “We met up for tea and you were on your way to the Killing Eve wrap party, wearing a pair of extraordinary trousers…”
Emerald: “PVC! And they’d split at the crotch. I think the first thing I said to you was, ‘What happened to my crotch?’ And then I said, ‘Let’s just eat cake’, so we ate cake.”
Carey on Promising Young Woman: “I had no idea how I would do Cassie, but when you sent that playlist, and showed me the references, and I understood your sense of humour and your wit and your intelligence, I was like, ‘Oh, this is a no brainer’. I wasn’t ever remotely nervous of how the film would turn out.”
Emerald on the unapologetic female pop soundtrack to Promising Young Woman: “There’s just something so wonderful about those songs. There’s something so thrilling about female pop artists in particular. There’s a moment in our film when you hear Toxic by Britney Spears. Certainly, the reaction at Sundance [Film Festival] was that all of the women of our age suddenly sat up. It gives you this sort of primal response, somehow.”
On celebrating the holiday season this year
Carey: “It’s going to be ‘rule of six’-ish… It’s going to be little. But don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas.”
Emerald: “My whole family is Christmas-crazy. The stocking situation has gotten so out of hand now; [my sisters and I] have to do it secretly, away from our partners, because it’s too embarrassing to see. We get things for each other’s stockings all year round!”
